Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976

This article renews the study of national commemorations and public memory that was undertaken in the 1990s through the case study of commemorative practices at the Smithsonian Institution in the years preceding the Bicentennial of the American Revolution (1964-1976). It shows that beyond their hete...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marie Plassart
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Association Française d'Etudes Américaines 2013-03-01
Series:Transatlantica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/5900
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832580656323887104
author Marie Plassart
author_facet Marie Plassart
author_sort Marie Plassart
collection DOAJ
description This article renews the study of national commemorations and public memory that was undertaken in the 1990s through the case study of commemorative practices at the Smithsonian Institution in the years preceding the Bicentennial of the American Revolution (1964-1976). It shows that beyond their heterogeneous forms, commemorative activities share strong common points. The process of preparing for the Bicentennial at the Smithsonian sheds new light on what commemoration is, and pleads for a definition of commemorative activities that is not restricted to their ritual outcome. Commemoration appears to be a collective process of consensus-building, which is framed by the vertical organization of the federal bureaucracy. A top-down commemorative demand pervades the everyday professional activities of actors, who more or less adopt it as their own, depending on their professional status and their places in the chain of command.
format Article
id doaj-art-f0ca217c9fd34dd7b5db4ef182b6d936
institution Kabale University
issn 1765-2766
language English
publishDate 2013-03-01
publisher Association Française d'Etudes Américaines
record_format Article
series Transatlantica
spelling doaj-art-f0ca217c9fd34dd7b5db4ef182b6d9362025-01-30T10:48:03ZengAssociation Française d'Etudes AméricainesTransatlantica1765-27662013-03-01210.4000/transatlantica.5900Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976Marie PlassartThis article renews the study of national commemorations and public memory that was undertaken in the 1990s through the case study of commemorative practices at the Smithsonian Institution in the years preceding the Bicentennial of the American Revolution (1964-1976). It shows that beyond their heterogeneous forms, commemorative activities share strong common points. The process of preparing for the Bicentennial at the Smithsonian sheds new light on what commemoration is, and pleads for a definition of commemorative activities that is not restricted to their ritual outcome. Commemoration appears to be a collective process of consensus-building, which is framed by the vertical organization of the federal bureaucracy. A top-down commemorative demand pervades the everyday professional activities of actors, who more or less adopt it as their own, depending on their professional status and their places in the chain of command.https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/5900memoryCommemorationnationalismmuseumsBicentennialSmithsonian Institution
spellingShingle Marie Plassart
Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976
Transatlantica
memory
Commemoration
nationalism
museums
Bicentennial
Smithsonian Institution
title Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976
title_full Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976
title_fullStr Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976
title_full_unstemmed Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976
title_short Ce que commémorer veut dire : la Smithsonian Institution et l’État fédéral à l’approche du Bicentenaire de la Révolution américaine, 1964-1976
title_sort ce que commemorer veut dire la smithsonian institution et l etat federal a l approche du bicentenaire de la revolution americaine 1964 1976
topic memory
Commemoration
nationalism
museums
Bicentennial
Smithsonian Institution
url https://journals.openedition.org/transatlantica/5900
work_keys_str_mv AT marieplassart cequecommemorerveutdirelasmithsonianinstitutionetletatfederalalapprochedubicentenairedelarevolutionamericaine19641976